California's Angels
by Ryzxn
Summary: If only Clary knew that she's the girl Jace had chased across the country, from NY to CA. And if only she knew how to not break Simon's heart. And if only she knew how to stop the guy that's killing kid Shadowhunters. Only, this one thing, she does know, but how can she kill the best Shadowhunter alive? She doesn't have the skill, and she doesn't have the heart. She loves him.
1. I: A Question

Jace Wayland was probably the hottest male person the the U.S.A.

Actually. Scratch that.

He's the hottest person in the world.

And he's not married.

That's what had attracted Isabelle Lightwood, when he had offered her a job during the summer after her sophomore year. But she hadn't known she'd get pulled into the strange world of Shadowhunters. It wasn't everyday that a supposed mundane and her brother turned out to be hidden Nephilim. Well, Isabelle certainly hadn't expected it, at least, and she didn't think Alec had either.

Izzy had come to Jace for a simple job for quick cash, instead, she'd become one of the head honchos at the New York Institute. Seriously, Wayland people were important people. They had alotta pull with the higher-ups. That was what kept Izzy interested in the job. There always seemed to be something going on around Jace, whether the latest gossip or the best kills on a hunt.

Surprisingly, three years later, with Izzy and Jace both 19 and the only possible couple in the building, they weren't together. Jace had his hopes set on some red-head, and Izzy... Well. Isabelle was Isabelle, and she never could bring herself to actually date Jace. It was too.. Awkward. Yeah, that might be a good word for it.

Maybe, in her heart, Isabelle thought she was waiting for the right person. Or maybe she just didn't like Jace, the sarcastic golden boy that was the definition of hot... And knew it. Well. Didn't like him that way.

Now. Jace and Izzy were good friends. And she trusted him. But when he came bouncing into the Institute, flounced up to Isabelle, and asked her if she'd like to go to California with him, Izzy wasn't quite sure what to say. Izzy knew Jace. There was something behind this idea. Some plot hatching in the almost-not-teen's mind. The scary thing was, Isabelle wanted to say yes.

Well... Instead of saying "Sure, I'll go," the first thing that came out of Isabelle's mouth was, "Is Alec going?"

Jace looked at her like she was crazy, his golden eyes still shining with excitement. Alec was the overprotective-older-brother type, even though he was only a year older than the two of them. Both would die if they voluntarily dragged Alec on a vacation. Vacations were supposed to be chances to get away from annoying overprotective older brothers.

"Okay," Izzy replied, Jace's look clearly the only answer he was going to give her. "What about the Institute? I mean, can Alec run everything? You know we have a training session with some Nephilim from Idris in a few days."

"Magnus is coming, probably," Jace replied, sounding annoyed with all the questions. At least he didn't give her the crazy look. "And Chamomile."

"Oh," Izzy responded.

Jace looked at Isabelle expectantly. "So...?" he prompted. "You know, millions of people would love to get me alone on a trip to Cali. Beaches - Disneyland - Shopping."

Honestly, Izzy didn't hear a word Jace said until he said 'shopping.' Her ears seemed to perk up and her eyes locked on him. "I'm in."

"Knew you'd give in." Jace winked at her. "See, I didn't even have to take off my shirt."

Izzy rolled her eyes and kicked at his shin. Her boot collided with Jace's leg and he gave a yelp. That satisfied Izzy quite enough. "You're an idiot."

"Possibly," said Jace, "But an idiot that everyone wants. Besides, could an idiot come up with all my witty comments?"

Isabelle kicked at him again, but Jace seemed to expect it this time and hopped gracefully away. She glared at him and growled.

"Ladies. Chill. You're both pretty, just keep calm and carry on. With your lives, that is, not your fight."

Isabelle turned to glare at Magnus. She gave him a pointed look before turning back to Jace. Just as she turned, Jace raced up, tugged on a strand of her hair - painfully - gaining a yelp from Izzy, and ran off.

Izzy glared at him for a heartbeat before giving chase. Despite her high-heeled leather boots, the dark-haired Shadowhunter had no trouble keeping up with Jace as they raced through the institute. Though Jace was stronger, and faster, and just naturally best at anything, Izzy was an excellent sprinter. (Gotta keep those boys off you, you know.) Not to mention her hardened muscles from training.

They continued the hunt upstairs. Jace flying silently up the steps with Izzy gliding gracefully after him. Runes for silence, stealth.

When Izzy turned around the corner, Jace was suddenly gone. Eyes narrowed in suspicion, Isabelle began contemplating whether or not to search the rooms. Eventually, she decided she might as well.

Boldly walking up to the first door, Izzy threw it open, only to be attacked by a broom. _Killer brooms. Well, you never know..._ Isabelle hoped Jace wasn't anywhere close enough to heard the muffled yelp that managed to escape from the Shadowhunter's mouth as a few brooms and other cleaning supplies fell out of the closet.

Izzy heard a chuckle and the slim figure of Alec strolled up with his hands in his pockets and a towel draped over his bare shoulders.

"Haven't you ever heard of shirts? They're wonderful things, you know," Izzy quipped. "Not everyone wants to be blinded, here."

"I just took a shower," Alec replied calmly. "I didn't want my shirt to get wet from my hair."

"And since when did you start caring about your clothes?"

Alec looked away, not meeting Isabelle's gaze.

"Hmm?" Izzy pressed, now starting to enjoy bothering her brother.

"SinceMagnusstartedmakingme," Alec said quietly, in a rush.

Izzy couldn't understand all of the hastily mumbled words, but she got the gist of it. "Uh-huh, and -"

"Anyway," Alec cut her off. "What were you doing in the broom closet?"

"What people usually do a broom closet, maybe?"

"You have no idea how wrong that sounded, Izzy," Jace said, coming up from behind the dark-haired Shadowhunter. Isabelle whirled to glare at him.

"You!" she snarled. Ugh. And he was wearing his customary smirk, too. Jace was mocking her now. Oh, he'd pay.

"Yes, I suppose you can call me you, but then of course, that means I can call you me, and that would be quite confusing, wouldn't it?"

"Do you want me to go with you to California or not, Boy?" Isabelle growled at him.

"Alright, alright. I relent." Jace held up his hands defensively. "Don't bite my head off."

"Oh, I wouldn't dare," Izzy said, her tone dangerous. She sneered at him. "Your dad would kill me for getting the floor dirty."

A bell sounded from somewhere in Institute, and Jace said, "Doorbell."

"Nooo." Isabelle drew the word out, adding on an accent so it sounded more like _naw _rather than _no._ "I thought it was a kitten," she said sarcastically as the trio started walking. They passed the kitchen, and Alec paused to grab a bottle of water before continuing his journey with Izzy and Jace to the front door.

"So, you're going to California?" Alec asked, raising a eyebrow at Izzy.

"Uh... Yeah?" Isabelle's voice rose to a questioning squeak as she spoke.

"With yours truly," said Jace, walking up to Isabelle and throwing his arm around her shoulders.

And Jace, just to be a jerk, added, "It's for our honeymoon."

Alec, however, was taking a swig of water just as Jace said that. The result was a very much damp and very much not-laughing Jace. Izzy, however, was trying to get a six-pack from laughing so hard, and even Alec was chuckling a little, despite having spit water all over his _parabatai._

"You know," Izzy said. "Despite that comment, Alec already got you back for me. Who's laughing now, huh, Jace Wayland?"

"You know," Jace mused, still dripping water all over the place, "I've never actually seen someone do that before."

The doorbell rang again just as the trio reached the entrance and Izzy gave an annoyed, "Hold on!"

"What do I hold on to?" The person on the other side of the door shouted.

"Definitely Cammy," Izzy muttered.

"OPEN THE DOOR ALREADY!" Chamomile yelled just as Jace opened said door.

"Chill, Girl," Jace said.

The tall blonde warlock sauntered calmly into the Institute. As she passed Jace, she whirled and kicked him in the side.

"Ow," Jace said, only half-meaning it.

"You're dripping wet," Cammy observed.

"Thanks, Captain Obvious."

"Hey, Camon," Alec said, called Camomile by the nickname he'd given her. "That would be my fault." He raised the water bottle in a toasting gesture and took another swig.

"Hi. And I don't even want to know," Cammy replied. She turned to look at all of them and seemed to decide, after giving Alec a peculiar look, that it was better not ask why he wasn't wearing a shirt like someone who wanted to blind children. "So," she said finally, regaining her composure. "I'm gonna stay here while you two are gone. Where do I stay, and when do you leave so I know what time to write on the party invites?"

"Follow me," said Jace, walking deeper into the Institute. "And tomorrow, at one."

"What?!" Izzy yelled. "I need to pack! Jaaaaaa-ceeeeee!" She turned the name into a whine. With that, Isabelle ran ahead to go pack for their trip. Then she came flying back. After slapping Jace on the shoulder, she ran, once again, towards her room to pack everything she would need for California. Including rocks. Because Angel knows everyone need rocks for trips to Cali.

** I know I've kind of left this off at an awkward spot, but that's because I shortened this chapter. It's not because I don't have enough inspiration, but because I wrote a lot of this all in one piece and when I divided it into chapters, that's how this came out. **

** Note that a lot of these chapters will be really short, but updates should be much, much more frequent than my other stories. So please, bear with me. **

** Anyway, thoughts? I know some characters, Isabelle, for example, may be a bit out of character, but I'm quite sure they'll get better. And Alec still isn't wearing a shirt. I'll leave with that image in my reader's heads.**


	2. II: Rocks

** Alright, so, I don't know what is going on with the HTML right now, but it's going crazy. Last chapter looked all weird, but I fixed it. It also seems I have to fix the coding every time I update, but ah, oh well. Sorry about that.**

** Okay, IMPORTANT: for anyone who read the first chapter before this was updated, I added something onto the end of the first chapter. It's not an author's note, it's actually part of the story. It's quite important because it introduces Cammy. If you don't read it, you might be slightly confused, so please do. It's not long. Sorry for the inconvenience, but I didn't realize when I was separating the chapters that those few paragraphs were supposed to go with the first chapter. **

"Have I ever expressed my extreme hate for airplanes?" Chamomile said as she sat in the backseat of the car Jace was driving to the airport where he and Isabelle would leave from to heard for California.

"No," said Jace, just as Izzy, who had spent more time with Cammy, said, "Yes."

Izzy and Jace glanced at each other, then Jace turned his eyes back to the road, and Izzy turned to lean her head against the cool glass of the window. The sky was overcast, and it was drizzling a little, but not so bad that Jace and Isabelle's flight would be canceled.

There was silence for a few moments, and to fill the gap, Jace flipped on the car's stereo. Gothic rock music blared from the speakers as Nemo by Nightwish started playing. Cammy started singing along (off-key), probably just for the fun of it.

"Eww," muttered Izzy, "Wail-y music. Do we have to listen to this?"

"Yes," said Jace. "Because I'm driving."

"Someday, Magnus, Jace and I will convert you, Izzy. You will come to the dark side, eventually," Cammy stated.

"We have cookies!" Jace added proudly.

Izzy just rolled her eyes and turned back to the window. As she did, Cammy leaned forward in her seat and prodded Isabelle's cheek with one of her cat claws.

"Ow!" exclaimed Izzy, rubbing her cheek. "I swear," she added, "I know Warlocks all have a mark on them, but you have a weapon."

"10, actually," Chamomile replied, giving Izzy the 'innocent' look and waving her fingers in the air.

"You are so not cute," Izzy stated.

The song Deceiver of Fools by Within Temptation started playing on the radio, but it only got about half-way through before the car pulled into the airport parking lot. Isabelle gratefully turned off the music.

"Hey.." Jace protested half-heartedly.

"We're already here," Izzy informed him.

"I know that, but still.."

Isabelle waved her hand dismissively at Jace as he parked. The dark-haired Shadowhunter jumped out of the car and stretched. Then, she grabbed two of her three large bags from the trunk (which had to be quite big, considering how much Izzy packed), set them down, and began hauling the third, a huge suitcase, out.

"How are you going to get those to the building?" Jace asked as he pulled his single large suitcase and weapon bag out of the trunk.

"I'm not," Isabelle said.

"You figure that out now?" Jace asked, narrowing his eyes at Izzy.

"Nope," said previously-mentioned dark-haired Shadowhunter. She tossed one direction in Cammy's general direction. She caught it, and immediately dropped it on the ground. A cracking sound came from the bag. Izzy sent Chamomile a glare that said 'fix it.'

Cammy sighed and snapped her fingers, a couple purple spark flying out of her fingers as they touched. She picked up the bag and started half dragging-half carrying it towards the airport.

"Do you want the bag or the suitcase?" Isabelle asked Jace.

Jace looked at the suitcase like he was afraid of it. "I'll take my chances with the bag."

"Here then," Izzy said, situating her other bag on Jace's shoulder.

Jace looked at Izzy like she was crazy, sighed as well, then started lugging his suitcase and Izzy's bag towards the airport.

Izzy smiled evilly to herself as she followed Jace and Cammy towards the airport, pulling her wheeled suitcase along easily. Of course, Isabelle Lightwood would be the one to put anything heavy she needed for the trip in the smaller bags. Including rocks. Rocks are useful. They make wonderful pets. . . And weapons . . .


	3. III: A New Friend

**We now get to one of my absolute favorite characters.**

As Jace walked up to get in line to drop his and Izzy's luggage, he was approached by two guys. Honestly, he didn't really care about them since both his shoulders were aching because Cammy had deposited Izzy's other bag on his other shoulder.

"That's a lot of luggage for one guy," one of them stated.

"Huh?" Jace said intelligently. "What? Oh, this is-"

The other cut him off. "It's okay man. No discrimination here."

"Yeah, we know what it's like. We're cool with it," the first added.

"Wait," Jace said, shaking his head. "What? I'm not. . ." But the two guys had already walked away. Jace sighed. By now, it was his turn to drop off the luggage. Which he did.

Izzy flounced up to him and dropped of her luggage. "What did those two guys want?"

Jace closed his eyes like he was in pain. "Nothing."

Isabelle looked at him oddly for a moment, then shrugged and wandered off to go find Chamomile, who was probably either chatting up a guy or eating like a pig. Either one would not be surprising.

When Izzy found Cammy, the blonde seemed to be both chatting up a guy, _and_ eating like a pig. She walked up to the table that Chamomile and a black-haired male person were sitting at in the small, dimly lit café in the airport.

"Hey, Izzy," Cammy said brightly, looking up from her slice of apple pie and vanilla cappuccino. Her light emerald eyes flicked over to the boy as he turned to look at Izzy.

"Sebastian," he supplied as his coal-black eyes met Isabelle's dark brown ones. He stood and held out his hand to her.

"Isabelle," the dark-haired girl returned, taking Sebastian's hand. There was something about him... Something about his hair that didn't go with the rest of him, but Izzy couldn't pinpoint exactly what it was.

Isabelle felt the cold of metal on her hand and glanced down at Sebastian's hand. She saw the glint of a ring, but he pulled back before Izzy could recognize the design.

Sebastian sat back down. "Join us?" he offered motioning at the final seat at the table. Isabelle nodded and sat down.

Suddenly, light flared up in the small room as one of the waiters threw open the window curtains on the far wall. The trio blinked in surprise and waited for their eyes to adjust.

"So where are you heading?" Sebastian asked Isabelle.

"Huh?" Izzy responded. She turned away from the window to look at Sebastian. It was then she realized that his skin shimmered.

Well, sort of.

The faint silver markings of runes decorated the black-haired boy's skin. "You're a Shadowhunter!" Izzy exclaimed a little too loudly.

A few people in the café glanced at Isabelle like she was crazy - including Sebastian - while Chamomile nearly choked on her cappuccino at Izzy's outburst.

"I-I mean," Izzy tried to cover, "I thought no one else around here played that game." She had spoken just loud enough for the other people in the room to hear. Isabelle slumped in her chair in embarrassment.

"I thought you knew," Sebastian said quietly as Izzy buried her face in her hands and let out a partly relieved sigh. The other part consisted of something along the lines of, 'Izzy you moron.'

"Your friend recognized it almost as soon as she saw me," he went on, meaning Cammy.

"I didn't notice," Izzy mumbled as she dropped her hands onto the table. "And California, in response to your previous question."

"Really?" Sebastian said, sounding genuinely interested. "That's where I'm headed. What part?"

Isabelle thought for a moment, glad of the subject change, before responding, "Anahimi or something like that."

"Anaheim?" Sebastian offered.

"Yeah, that's the place!" Izzy responded. "How'd you know?"

"It's where the California Institute is. Well, the main one. There's a smaller one up north, but I figured, since your visiting, you'd want to go to Disneyland, too."

"Izzy!" Jace called from somewhere near the entrance of the café. She heard his footsteps as he approached their table. "And Cammy. I found you both. . . And competition, apparently," Jace went on.

Isabelle groaned, while Chamomile tried (quite successfully) to hide her laugh.

Sebastian grinned. "Competition? Are either of these beautiful ladies your girlfriend? Or both perhaps?"

"Wife, actually," Jace responded, placing his hand on Izzy's shoulder as he kept up with his ruse from earlier. "It's our honeymoon. After that, I'm going to start working on the warlock."

"I will kick you," Cammy replied immediately, as if she said it automatically and didn't even process what Jace had said.

Sebastian had a wide smirk on his face as he watched Jace. "Sorry, but you might be to late to start on this one." He pointed at Cammy. "I might just take her. We could get a real contest going on here."

Jace grinned his customary grin and said, "Sounds like a plan."

Cammy raised her eyebrows at Sebastian, then blushed. "Anyway," she said. "You guys have to go right? I'll see you all off."

"Right," Isabelle replied, once _again_ glad of a subject change. "Let's go get in line."

Then the trio of Shadowhunters and tag-a-long warlock made their way towards the boarding area.


	4. IV: Jace and Liars

Clarissa Morgenstern waited patiently on the couch in the library of the Anaheim Institute. Or more, she wasn't waiting at all, since she didn't particularly want the event that was in the near future to happen.

Clary's brother had been gone for two weeks, and Clary had been glad of the alone time. Thankfully, her father, Valentine, had been in and out of Idris the whole time Sebastian was away, so Clary, for the most part, got the Institute to herself. Not that she'd stayed there. Only people with Shadowhunter blood could get into the Institute, and all Shadowhunters had a right to stay there, so there's no reason for Clary to hold down the fort.

Instead, she went to visit her three favorite people in the world. For some reason, the image of a golden-haired Shadowhunter boy with luminous amber-yellow eyes had appeared in her head. Well, okay, not that favorite person. If only fate was that kind. Even if Clary was still wary around him.

Not that it mattered much, since Clary was never going to see the boy named Jace again.

She'd made her way to Luke's house. Her mother and Luke had just gotten married, and around the same time, Simon's mom kicked him out of the house when she found out Si was a vampire. Luke and Jocelyn had taken him in, more as a favor to Clary, but they still liked Simon for Simon, whether he was their daughter's/step-daughter's best friend or not.

Nearly every time she got there, Simon had been sitting on the front porch. In broad daylight.

And, yes, he was a vampire.

The reason he became a Daylighter was probably because of a little incident in which Si hadn't fed for a while, and had suddenly attacked Clary. Well . . . The "incident" went unmentioned, but Clary was pretty sure Luke put two and two together. Thankfully, he hadn't said anything to Jocelyn, otherwise she might have thrown Simon out of the house, too.

Anyway. Now, Sebastian was coming back today, and Clary was not exactly looking forward to it. He wasn't that bad, but still. . .

Clary figured she'd better get over to Luke's house once last time while she could without her brother or father bothering her. The red-headed Shadowhunter pulled herself off the couch and made her way to Luke's.

When she got there, Simon was, once again, sitting on the porch.

"Hey, Simon," Clary greeted.

"Hey," he responded. And then there was silence. It wasn't uncomfortable, but not quite comfortable, either. In the quiet, Clary's mind drifted to the golden boy that had, for some reason or another, been in her thoughts a lot recently.

-_two years ago-_

_ Clary stood near a fountain, wearing a long strapless black dress with flowing fabric and a thick white sash around her waist. The red-head had left her handbag at the table back at the ballroom, but was now wishing she'd brought it so she'd have a coin or two to wish upon._

_The red-headed girl was currently at a Shadowhunter ball-slash-party thing, and since it was only Shadowhunters, Simon hadn't been able to come along. At the time being, Clary was desperately hoping for a friend. Most of the Shadowhunters here were older, over twenty, while Clary was only 16._

_Plus, Clary was too shy to start a conversation with anyone. Sebastian was the outgoing one. Like Valentine._

_As Clary stared at the water below her, she heard someone come up behind her. Before Clary could turn, a hand was firmly holding her shoulder, keeping her in place. Not giving her a chance to whirl and punch the him in the face, the guy reached down with her other hand and took hers. Kinda. Clary had thought he was holding her hand, but in reality, he was giving her a coin. After he was sure she wasn't going to drop the coin - or punch him in the face - he released her shoulder._

_Clary glanced down at the quarter in her hand, then turned to look at the boy. He had messy golden hair, that complimented his striking liquid fire eyes. She raised an eyebrow at him, and he mimicked her._

_"Go on," he said after a little. "Wish for me."_

_Clary took that to mean wish while he was there, put on a show for him, rather than to wish for _him_, as a being. She turned back to the fountain, closed her eyes, hand gripping the coin. . . And then tossed it in._

_"What did you wish for?" the golden-eyed boy asked._

_"I'm not supposed to tell," She responded softly. "Otherwise it won't come true."_

_The boy took a step closer to her. "Come on," he said, smirking. "Tell me what you want, and I'm sure I can get it for you."_

_As Clary watched him, she swore she saw his eyes darken slightly._

_"A kiss, perhaps?" he prompted, only just before Clary said:_

_"A friend."_

_"Oh," he replied, sounding a little disappointed. He held out his hand to her. "I'm Jace. I'm just visiting here from New York."_

_"Clary," the red-head supplied. "Morngenstern. I'm the daughter if the head of the Institute here." She took his hand._

_Jace opened his mouth to respond, but then there was a voice calling from the direction of the building. Instead of saying whatever he was going to say, Jace cursed almost silently. "Sorry, Clary, but I've been summoned." He pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket and handed it to her. "Call me maybe?" Jace grinned at her, his eyes sparkling, turned, and left Clary standing there. Alone. Staring at a piece of paper with the words 'bread, cheese, milk, and ham' listed on it._

_Clary was never going to throw that paper away._

"So," Simon started slowly, dragging out the word an breaking Clary put of her reverie.

"What's up?" Clary mumbled, as if waking slowly from a dream.

"I was thinking . . ." Simon started softly. Clary glanced over at him as he ran his through his hair, something he did when he's nervous. Or tired. "We've been through a lot together, and -" Simon took a deep breath - "Will you go out with me?"

"Sure, Si," Clary said automatically, before her mind could process what he'd actually said.

Simon's face lit up. "Rea-" He was cut off my Clary as she stood straight up, a hurried exclamation that no one would be able to understand escaping her lips.

"By the Angel!" She exclaimed, again, staring at the trio walking up Luke's sidewalk. Her eyes flickered from her brother, to the golden boy, to the girl, then back to the other boy, then to Sebastian, then back to Jace. "Jace!"

Simon's puzzled look hardened into a glare as Jace winked at Clary and said, "I told you to wish for me, Baby. Your wish just came true."

"B-But . . . How did you . . . When did . . . What?" spluttered Clary. A confused expression settled itself on her features as soon as the stopped trying to form coherent sentences. "You gave me a grocery list!" Those were the words she finally came out with.

Jace grinned, "My mistake, Beautiful." The red-head could feel her cheeks heat.

"Forgive me for my neglect of hospitality," Sebastian said, stepped towards Clary. "Jace, Isabelle, this is my sister, Clarissa Morgenstern, whom I believe you know, and her friend Simon, who happens to be a Daylighter," Sebastian said, motioning at each person with his hand.

"I heard about you," Jace said to Simon. "Daylighter. Quite impressive, for a downworlder."

"Well, I don't suppose it'd be impressive for Shadowhunters, since they aren't vampires, now would it?" Simon shot back. As Clary glanced at him, she noticed kind, loving Simon almost had a sneer on his face. Almost, but not quite.

Sebastian turned to face Jace and Isabelle. "Clary, Simon, this is Isabelle Lightwood and Jace Wayland." Again Sebastian motioned in turn at each person.

"Whoa, whoa, wait. What?" Clary's voice rose in pitch with each word he spoke. "Wayland? As in, New York Institute heads, Wayland?"

"Uh-huh, Lightwoods don't get any fame," Isabelle complained, crossing her arms and giving Jace a pointed look.

"I've heard of the Lightwoods," Simon spoke up. "I heard that the youngest generation of Lightwoods had made a deal with the Waylands to co-head the Institute. Am I wrong?"

"Yes," Jace answered Simon. "You are wrong. There was no deal. I offered Izzy a spot at my side to run the Institute. She accepted the offer. No exchange was made. Her brother resides at the Institute, while her youngest sibling is in Idris."

A thought flashed through Clary's mind as Jace spoke, sending wave a disappointment through her, _he's already engaged . . . Wait, where did that come from?_

"You didn't have to say all that," Isabelle muttered as soon as Jace was finished, rolling her eyes. Just for the sake of it, she punched him in the shoulder.

"Ow!" Jace exclaimed, more out of surprise than pain. "I love you, too," he huffed.

Isabelle gave Jace a pointed look, but said nothing and, instead, lowered her gaze to her feet.

"Well, all formalities aside," Sebastian said with a flourishing gesture of his hands and a long step towards Luke's and Jocelyn's house. "Would anyone like a any refreshments? If there are any . . . "

They all trickled into the house like zombies with gas masks fused into their faces after being told to go home to their mummy. Simon hovered near Clary, close, as if protective. Everyone took a seat around the counter in the kitchen, except for Clary, who was serving up glasses of lemonade. There was an awkward silence - awkward for Clary, at least - as everyone sipped their lemonade. In the meantime, Clary mentally ticked off the crazy things that had happened so far. Her day had started out normal, and then she met with Simon and he asked her . . .

Clary's train of thought abruptly broke off and she exclaimed, "Oh my God!" when she realized what she'd agreed to. She jumped out of her chair, upsetting her lemonade and nearly throwing it all over Jace. Jace cursed under his breath and leaped away from the counter, tipping over his stool in the process. Clary gasped, her hand flying up to cover her mouth. "Sorry!" She grabbed a towel from next to the sink and began wiping up the lemonade. "I'm so sorry! I just, ugh, I just . . . Realized something?" With a subtle glance at Simon, she realized he was watching her with amusement. And affection. Oh, God, what had she gotten herself into?

"Forgive my dear sister's clumsiness," Sebastian said. He placed a stele next to Clary and continued, "And her inability to remember that we have a rune for simple mistakes such as these."

Clary felt her cheeks heat up with embarrassment and anger. She snatched up the stele and pointed it threateningly in Sebastian's face. "You're a simple mistake that I might just create a rune to erase," she said, caught up in the excitement of the moment. Then Clary seemed to shrink back as Sebastian raised his eyebrows and looked pointedly at their guests. "Sorry," Clary muttered, quickly drawing a rune in the spilled lemonade to make it clean itself, "Forget I said that." Of course, they didn't.

"You can create runes?" Isabelle asked as Clary handed Sebastian back his stele.

Clary fell back and slumped in her chair, looking at her hands in her lap. "Yeah."

Isabelle seemed to think for a moment. Then she said, "How?"

"I don't know," Clary grumbled. "I think my mom knows why, but she's never told me."

"You never asked?" Jace inquired.

"Once," Clary replied. "She told me to ask my brother."

"And I don't know," Sebastian replied, sounding perfectly honest. Clary remembered the day she'd asked Sebastian about her powers to create runes. He'd sounded honest then, too, but she knew was as good a liar as he was a Shadowhunter. She'd always doubted the words that came out of his mouth.

Jace furrowed his brow for a moment, as if remembering something. "Do you have any other siblings?"

Clary shook her head.

"Well, enough of this topic," Sebastian announced. He turned to the vampire at his right. "Congratulations, Simon."

If Simon's blood was still pumping, Clary swore he would have blushed. _Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap, crap, crap. _Simon replied with a polite, "Thank you. I hope you approve."

"Not my favorite choice, but it'll do. We'll see how long it takes before she breaks your heart," Sebastian replied with a smirk.

Isabelle watched the conversation with growing interest. "So, wait, what's–" she began at the same time Clary spoke.

"I would never want to break Simon's heart." Not technically a lie. "I love him." Also not technically a lie. She loved him, just not like that. The redhead gave Sebastian a pointed look. "How do you know anyway?"

"I have my ways," Sebastian purred. "You think I don't keep tabs on my little sister at all times?"

"Stalker," Clary huffed.

"Shorty."

"Creep."

"Annoyingly stubborn Shadowhunter with a passion for biting vampires."

"That was _one time_, Sebastian. _One. Time._" Clary glared at her brother.

"Or maybe it's a holy water addiction. How many times did you have to take a bath in it? Six?" Sebastian grinned.

Clary growled, a sound like a rumbling in her throat that she'd perfected with the years of living with Sebastian. "Speaking of baths, why don't you take a shower? Your hair is weirding me out."

"You just want to get rid of me. Or see me without a shirt."

"Eww."

While all this happened, Jace and Isabelle watched with increasing amusement.

"Fine. Clary, I trust you can see our guests to the Institute safely when they're ready if I'm not out yet?"

Clary nodded in response. Sebastian rose from his chair and, after putting his glass away, returned and began rifling through the pockets in his jacket, which was laying on the back of his chair. He made his way towards the bathroom after drawing out his phone.

Clary gave Sebastian's back a puzzled look. "Why do you need your phone to take a shower?"

Sebastian's only response was: "I believe I'm going to be sending some compromising photos of myself to that extremely flirtatious warlock from New York named Chamomile."

Isabelle, who was just putting her glass of lemonade down after taking a sip, choked. After a couple of coughs, she spluttered, "What!? Cammy gave you her number? After _one _meeting? In an _airport_, at that?!"

"What can I say," Sebastian called from somewhere in the house, "I'm just that sexy."

**I felt nice. Which means you get an update. A long one, at that. This was originally going to be two chapters, but again, I felt nice. Also, review? More reviews means faster updates. Unless I'm feeling nice, that is. And you won't like me when I'm nice. Nice usually means I kill one of the main characters, and you wouldn't want that, now would you? Besides, it would ruin the plot.**


	5. V: A Certain Caller

"Two words: not amused" Isabelle glared at Jace, who only grinned in response.

"Is he always like that?" Clary asked, ignoring the fact they'd just had to make a two-mile detour to accommodate for Jace's disappearance. Which was really just him getting distracted by, or more, wanting to eradicate, a family of ducks that were about to go swimming in a park they passed. So much for getting to the Institute before Sebastian was done with his shower.

"Yes, unfortunately," Izzy replied with a sigh.

After a moment of silence, Simon asked, "So, Isabelle, what's it like in New York?"

The Shadowhunter looked thoughtful for a moment, as if contemplating an answer. "Well, the buildings are a lot taller there."

Jace chuckled. "Really, Iz? That's the best thing you can think of? Well, I guess since you haven't gotten the chance to shop here, you don't have anything to compare."

"I'm not sure if that was a statement meant to incite me or not, so I'm just going to ignore it," Isabelle replied. She turned back to Simon. "I think I like the weather here better. It's hotter, but it doesn't seem like it rains as much."

The conversation faded away again as they approached the Institute. "So this is it?" Jace asked.

Clary nodded in response. Just as she was about to open her mouth to add to her reply, Sebastian walked out of the Institute, his hair, thought not yet blonde, significantly lighter than when she'd last seen him.

"How on earth do you plan to snatch up Cammy if you can't even get to your temporary residence on time?" Sebastian smirked and waved his phone in the air.

"Jace!" A feminine voice that Clary didn't recognize came from the speaker of the device. "I swear, if you blow up anything without me—demons included—I'm going to personally hop on a plane a claw your eyes out, ya got that?"

Jace walked up to the phone and peered at it, as if he was peering at the actual person talking. "Camon, you hate airplanes."

"Don't call me that," the voice shot back. "Only Alec can. And to quote Julius Caesar—kinda—it's not that I love planes less, even though I do love planes less, but that I love blowing stuff up more."

"That reference made no sense, Cammy," Isabelle said, joining Jace next to the phone.

"Shut it, Lil' Miss Perfect. I have some claws left for you, too. And don't even get me started on my magic. Speaking of which, Magnus may be portaling over. He wants to: one, go shopping with his favorite—not really, but excluding Alec for the moment—dark-haired Shadowhunter and two, meet this kid Jace fancies."

_ Kid? So Jace wasn't with Isabelle? _Clary hardly had the chance to think before the fast-paced conversation continued.

"Did you seriously just say 'fancies'?" Jace asked, sounding incredulous. "I don't 'fancy,' Chamomile. Get it straight. If anything, I swoon."

"Jace Wayland swoons? Oh dear, it's the apocalypse," she responded sweetly. Clary could hear the smirk in Cammy's voice.

Jace groaned. "By the Angel, I'm never going to live that down, now. I hate you."

"Love you, too Jacey-Wacey."

"I hate you, squared."

"Alec and Magnus send love. Church does too—Ow! Okay, never mind. He just scratched me for saying that," Chamomile continued. "Anyhoos. Bye all, have fun in Cali. Sebastian, call me, maybe?"

Sebastian laughed. "Will do."

The phone beeped to announce the end of the call.

**Short. Deal. Review?**


	6. VI: Because Everyone Loves Pink

"Isabelle."

"Jace?" the dark-haired Shadowhunter responded from where she was sitting on a chair in Jace's room in the Anaheim Institute.

"Izzy." Jace's tone held a warning in it.

"Yes?" Isabelle replied sweetly.

He glared at her. "Stop playing."

"Playing what? I don't hear any music," Izzy returned innocently. The doorbell rang. "That doesn't count," she added.

"Ugh," was Jace's response. "Can't you just give me a break for once in both of our lives?"

"Nope," Izzy purred, popping the 'p.'

Jace threw a clothing item at her. Jeans. Skinny jeans. Pink ones, to be exact. "Why. Are. My jeans. Pink?" Jace growled.

"I believe it's called dye. Magnus would call it fashion."

"I hate you."

"I love you, Jace," Isabelle said cheerfully. She examined the pair of hot-pink jeans before throwing them back at Jace. He caught them and threw them on the bed. "Actually, I think the more important question is not why they're pink, but how."

"Like you don't know," Jace shot at her. He walked over to his luggage, which was sitting on his bed, and riffled through it.

"I don't," Isabelle replied. "Honestly. It was probably Cammy. Or perhaps Alec—you know Magnus has been rubbing off on him."

"In more ways than one," Jace muttered. "He even smells like Magnus, now."

"I'm not going to ask why you've been sniffing your _parabatai."_

"What is this?" Jace held up a pink cotton t-shirt with two fingers, as if it was covered in some substance he didn't particularly want to touch. "Where's my black? I miss my black."

"Maybe it's breast cancer awareness week. And come on, you need some color in your life."

Jace threw the shirt at Izzy's face, but she caught the item before it reached its target. He scowled. "Isn't that why I like Clary? Red hair and all?"

Isabelle laughed. "So is that what this whole thing is about?" She shifted in the chair so her legs were hanging over the armrest with her back on the other. "You dragged me along to help you woo Clary?"

"I wouldn't say 'woo,'" Jace said slowly.

"Oh? You swoon but you don't woo?"

"Shut up," Jace growled and threw a pile of pink clothing from inside his bag at Isabelle. They landed on her, but she just threw them back at Jace.

"You know you love me," Izzy said sweetly as Jace shook a pink t-shirt off his head.

"Of course I do," Jace huffed in annoyance. He paused, thinking. "I do hope Magnus hasn't turned my weapons pink." Jace paled at the idea and rushed over to his weapons bag. After searching through it for a moment he let out a relieved sigh. "Thank the Angel."

"Thank the Angel for what?"

"Magnus!" Izzy cried excitedly.

"Magnus!" Jace growled at the same time. "You're dead."

"Before I even get to go shopping?" Magnus replied, leaning against the doorway. "Might I inquire why I must receive this punishment inflicted upon my glorious self?"

"You turned all my clothes pink."

"Wasn't me."

"A likely story," Jace retorted.

"I swear on the Angel, not that I'm held to that oath, but still. Should mean something, right?" Magnus grinned.

"Not really." Jace snatched up the hot-pink skinny jeans from his bed and tossed them at Magnus. "I hold you accountable for this."

Magnus examined the jeans as Izzy had done earlier. He looked pleased. "These are being confiscated for evidence."

"If by that you mean you want them, keep them," Jace said, and sighed. He looked like he was debating something in his mind and a mixed expression of horror and happiness settled itself on Jace's face.

"No, I said I was confiscating these," Magnus replied. He snapped his fingers, and instead of wearing the silver jeans he'd originally entered the room with, he was donning Jace's pink ones.

"I can't believe I'm saying this," Jace said slowly, "But can we go shopping?"

"Yes!" Izzy nearly screamed.

At the same time, Magnus purred, "I'm sure Cammy would love it, so sure."

"Cammy's here?" Isabelle asked.

"Came by portal with me. We left Alec in charge for the day."

"You sure that's a good idea?" Jace muttered. "He might get someone to make all the curtains canary yellow."

"I would be most pleased by that," Magnus replied, smiling at the thought.

Isabelle got up from her chair and slipped past Magnus. "I'm going to go see if I can find a certain red-head for a tour guide. Should make Jace happy."

"I'm not sure whether to thank you or not for that," Jace huffed. "We _are_ going shopping, so I'll probably be cursing you within the next hour."

"Just remember, Jace, shopping isn't a duck."

Jace shuddered. "I hate ducks."

**Hnng.**


	7. VII: The Bet

"Jace, Cammy, Magnus," Isabelle hissed. She motioned for them to join her in lagging behind Sebastian, Simon, and Clary. She tugged Jace and Chamomile into a huddle by draping an arm over their shoulders. Magnus leaned in as well. "I propose a contest."

Jace raised his eyebrows. "I'm liking where this is going. As long as it has nothing to do with shopping or ducks."

"Neither," Izzy replied.

"Good, then I'm all for it."

Isabelle turned to Chamomile. "What about you, Cammy?"

"Depends. What's the contest?"

"Are you in or not?"

"Fine. Now spill."

"Okay, first," Isabelle stated, "Magnus, you're going to be the ref. So if any problems arise, you decide who gets the point, got it?"

Magnus nodded.

"Whoever gets found making a move on anyone else here loses."

"Not fair, Izzy," Cammy immediately says. "We—" Cammy motioned at Jace and herself. "—Both have someone we're actually interested in."

Izzy gave Cammy a pointed look. "You're actually interest in him, hmm?"

Cammy swatted Isabelle's arm.

"Okay, I relent. Fine, I'll go after Simon, then."

"The Daylighter," Jace deadpanned. "You're after the Daylighter."

Isabelle shrugged. "It seems like it might be fun."

Jace sighed. "Okay. Continue explaining. How do you win or lose?"

"If you get caught you lose a point. If you catch someone, you gain a point. First one to . . . Let's see . . . First one to 10 wins."

Jace nodded. "Fine, let's do it." He was about to break away from the huddle when Chamomile spoke up.

"Does anything verbal count? You know, flirting, Jace's horrible pickup lines, etc."

"Yes. Same goes for texts and such."

Cammy looked put out. "I don't like it, but fine."

"And the prizes?" Magnus asked, eyes twinkling mischievously.

"Winner gets to order the other two around for three months, and loser has to do all the chores back at the Institute for three months."

Jace groaned, and Izzy glared at him.

"And the game starts . . . Now!" she exclaimed out loud, causing Clary, Sebastian, and Simon to all turn around at look at them oddly.

Jace and Cammy both rolled their eyes and took two large steps away from Isabelle.

"Jerks," she huffed. "Ooh, is that a mall? Come on, Jace, let's go find you clothes." Izzy grabbed Jace's arm and tugged him in the direction of the clothing stores.

"Help," he said weakly as Isabelle dragged him away.

"If you find anything sparkly, come get me," Magnus called after them.

Isabelle threw a thumbs-up over her shoulder.


	8. VIII: The Reason Jace Doesn't Shop

"Isabelle, no."

"Come on, Jace."

"No. I said 'no,' and that's final."

"B-but . . . "

Clary tuned out Jace and Isabelle's bickering that she could hear from the changing room. She moved between racks of clothes, browsing absentmindedly. She was in whatever store—she didn't even remember the name now—Izzy had dragged Jace into, waiting for the two of them. Simon and Chamonmile had gone off to find the nearest video game store, and Sebastian had trailed after Cammy like she was a lost puppy—an odd comparison but one that surprisingly fit. And Magnus had disappeared to Angel-knows-where.

Another five minutes passed, and Clary gave a soft sigh, moving to the next rack. All of the clothes she found were either, A, not her style, or B, too big for her small frame.

"Clary." The voice was familiar—but not very—and snapped her out of her thoughts.

She turned. "Jace." Clary looked him over. "What _are_ you wearing?" She eyed his sparkly purple jeans and t-shirt with a big rubber duck on it.

Jace sighed and looked to the ceiling, as if praying for mercy. His gaze flicked back to Clary. "No clue. Isabelle somehow got me into it." He looked down at the clothes. "Sad, but I think I like the shirt even less than the pants."

"You don't like ducks?"

"Not in the least."

"Why?"

"Not sure. I just don't. Never have, never will."

"Okay," Clary replied, rolling her eyes slightly. When she looked back at Jace, she found herself trapped in his gaze, smoldering gold and amber boring into her.

There was a moment of silence, and then, "Are you and Isabelle . . . Are you two . . . ?" Clary blurted out the words before her brain could tell her mouth to shut up because she didn't need any more trouble.

Jace chuckled. "What does it mean to you?" Then he smirked at Clary's stuttering attempt of a reply. "No, Izzy and I are not a thing. We've never gotten together, not now, not ever. It's our joke, though, 'cause everyone back at New York thought we'd always end up in love. But I'm interested in someone else."

Clary's hope shattered. She wasn't sure which was worse: Jace engaged to Isabelle, or Jace in love with some random girl that he came all the way to California for. And then there was the whole ordeal with Simon.

"I see," Clary said softly.

"Oh my God, Clary!" Isabelle screeched from behind her. Clary whirled to see what was wrong with the frantic shadowhunter. "It would be a crime," Izzy continued, "Not to get this dress." She held out a silky strapless dress that was a similar shade to Clary's eyes. "It looks like the perfect size, too. I'm buying it for you."

Clary began to protest, but Isabelle had already flounced away.

Jace spoke up from somewhere near her shoulder. "I wouldn't bother. The only person Isabelle doesn't buy clothes for is her brother, but only because Magnus has already got that covered."

"Why would . . . You know what, I don't even want to know. You lot are all just too bizarre. I give up on asking questions."

"Magnus is Alec's boyfriend," Jace said, answering her unasked question.

"Oh."

They lapsed into awkward silence until Isabelle returned. She thrust a bag into Clary's arms, then turned to Jace with a look of disgust on her face. "Jace, dear, do extract yourself from whatever fashion disaster you're attempting to pull off. I believe one of our objectives upon coming to California was not to get arrested for the disturbance of the peace."

"Isabelle, you're the one who got me into this 'fashion disaster,' as you phrase it," said Jace with a sigh.

"I did not. Go change," Izzy's tone of voice left little room for protest, so Jace turned and walked away, towards the changing rooms. Isabelle watched his retreating figure until he disappeared from sight. Then she whirled on Clary. "I do believe you've taken a liking to him."

"What?" Clary spluttered, not expecting the other shadowhunter to say anything remotely similar to the words that just left her mouth. "No."

"Trust me, he's just being nice because its his first day here. He gets worse. Angel, he gets horrible." Then Isabelle chuckled at Clary's puzzled expression. "I'm joking, mostly. He is being particularly nice to you. He never treats Cammy or I like that. You should feel privileged. Just don't get too attached; Jace Wayland is a heart-breaker."

"Figures," Clary muttered under her breath, soft enough that Isabelle didn't hear.

"Talking behind my back, Izzy?" Jace appeared suddenly from behind the dark-haired shadowhunter. She whirled.

"Yes, I am. Payback for attacking me with a broom."

"You did that to yourself."

"Oh, in the same way that you set yourself up as a person who 'swoons'?" Isabelle smirked, knowing she'd won.

"Shut up," Jace growled. He held up a bag full of clothes. "Let's get out of here. That girl behind the counter has been staring at me for the past ten minutes straight and its starting to creep me out a little."

Isabelle rolled her eyes and dragged Jace out of the shop, Clary trailing along behind the two. Izzy's warning rang through her head. _Jace Wayland is a heart-breaker. _What did it matter though? She wasn't dating him. In fact, she was dating Simon . . . And yet she was interested in another guy. Some girlfriend she was. Clary nearly groaned aloud in frustration, but managed to keep herself in check with Jace and Izzy nearby.

"Hey you." Simon's voice suddenly materialized by Clary's ear as he leaned in and pecked her cheek. She felt guilt settling in her stomach. This was so unfair to him, pretending to love him—which, again, she did, just not like that.

"Hey," Clary said weakly, forcing a smile.

Simon wasn't fooled. "What's wrong?" Concern immediately filled his eyes. "Are you okay?"

Clary bit her lip. "Just hungry," she lied. "Really hungry." As if to prove that fact, her stomach growled softly. She sent a silent thank you to her stomach for helping with her cover.

"Well, the others claimed a table at the food court. Willing to join them?" Simon grinned. "Or we could go somewhere else."

"Simon, they're guests. We owe it to them," Clary said, rolling her eyes at what he was implying.

"They aren't my guests," Simon pointed out.

"Still. Besides, Sebastian would track us down and drag us back if we did leave." Clary sighed. "You know how he is."

"A jerk?"

"Exactly." And then she laughed. It was so easy to laugh around Simon. She wondered, for a moment, what kept her from falling for him. It'd never crossed her mind before and, had Simon not asked her out, it probably never would have. Which was why she agreed and got herself into the mess in the first place.

Ugh. Just ugh.

**Been a while. Sorry. I was going to update a week ago, but I forgot because I was super busy. So you get double-update.**


	9. IX: Because Cucumbers

"I can't believe I'm losing."

"Oh, I could beat you at a lot more than Angry Birds."

"Oh really?" Sebastian raised an eyebrow at the female warlock sitting across the table from him. "And what would that be?"

"I'm really good at chess," Chamomile replied, smirking.

Sebastian laughed. "I see. Hey, hand it over, it's my turn."

Isabelle raised an eyebrow at Chamomile. "My dear Cammy," she said sweetly, "I believe that should be a negative one for you and a point for me."

"Not technically a move," the blonde replied, not looking up from where she was watching Sebastian deftly send a yellow bird flying into multiple green pigs on his iPhone.

"Magnus?" Isabelle turned to Magnus and raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"I'd say it's one-fourth of a point. Negative-point-twenty-five for Chamomile and point-twenty-five for Isabelle," Magnus replied, seeming like he was trying to sound professional.

Izzy shrugged. "I'm still in the lead."

"Not for long," Jace huffed.

"You're going down, too," Cammy said immediately.

Everyone else at the table, however, was thoroughly confused. Clary opened her mouth to ask, but before she could get the words off her tongue, something else was on it instead. And it tasted like a grape. Clary chewed and glared at the culprit.

"Don't ask," Jace said, holding another grape up and popping it in his mouth. "I highly doubt you want to know." He dangled a cucumber slice in front of her. "Want this? I hate cucumbers."

"Did I hear cucumber?" Cammy's head shot up from watching over Sebastian's shoulder. "Jace! How dare you offer red-headed midgets cucumbers instead of me!"

"I'm not that short!" Clary protested. "And I was going to decline, anyway," she finished, sounding indignant. At this, Jace tossed Chamomile the cucumber. She caught it in the air with a finger. Or more, her nail.

Clary had to blink at the warlock for a couple of times before she realized that Cammy had cat claws. Chamomile caught her stare and, after eating the cucumber, waved her fingers in the air. "My warlock mark. They're retractable, except when I use magic. I have teeth, too."

"Oh," Clary said intelligently.

"Careful. She bites," Sebastian said, passing the iPhone to Cammy. "Your turn."

Clary's jaw dropped open slightly. "I don't even want to know how you know that."

"What?" Sebastian asked, feigning innocence. Clary knew better than to believe him when he was using that tone of voice. "We were sparring. I got her in a hold. She bit me."

"Sure," Clary said, not believing a word, except for the 'she bit me' part. "Whatever you say, dear brother of mine."

Jace and Izzy turned to look at Magnus as the conversation died away.

"No." He narrowed his yellow-green cat eyes at both of them. "It already happened and, therefore, doesn't count."

"Fine," Isabelle and Jace grumbled together.

Clary rolled her eyes at whatever game they were playing and turned back to her sandwich.

**Short. Very short. But I promise the next chapter, which will be up in a few days, is much better. It actually progresses the plot.**

**Review?**


	10. X: Of Runes and Darkness

**Note that this chapter doesn't pick up where the last chapter left off.**

"Well, you're a horrible assistant."

"That's because I'm not an assistant."

"Exactly."

"You make no sense."

"I'm not supposed to. You don't pay me any cash."

"Oh shut it."

"Shut what?"

"It's not too late to fire you, you know."

"But you love me too much to do that."

"Maybe."

"Just maybe? Not, 'oh, Clarissa, I love you so much my heart is going to explode and bleed out all over my chest'?"

"No. Now shut up and pass me my stele."

Clarissa scowled but complied. "Fine. Here." Her companion crouched down, hunching over his work. With a few swift flicks of the wrist, he'd drawn a perfect rune on the ground, in front of a door. Standing, he placed a few other runes along the entryway's frame.

"There," he said, evaluating his work. In the dim of the alley, a few beams of moonlight fell upon his hair and turned it to liquid silver.

"'There'?" She leaned over his shoulder. "What do you mean, 'there'? You never told me what we're doing."

The response was a grin, feral and tempting and seductive. He opened the door silently and took one step inside, looking around, before turning back to the other. His eyes glinted mischievously as he grabbed her hands and pulled her after him into the dark building. "I put silence runes on the doorway. No one outside can hear us." He dropped her hands and closed the door. "And an alarm should go off, should we be interrupted."

It was Clarissa's turn to grin, the smile not nearly as wolf-like as the other's, but not innocent in the least. "Oh? And what exactly are we doing?"

Instead of responding, her companion slipped through the hallways and corridors of the building, his feet making no sound on the floor. The only reason Clarissa could see him was because of the night-vision rune she'd applied earlier; the building would have been pitch black without it.

The place was confusing, but she trusted his sense of direction. He led her forward, drawing her deep into the darkness. One they reached a large room, he turned back to her with that same grin on his face. He withdrew his stele from his pocket. "You asked what we were doing."

Clarissa nodded.

"Well, we're going to have some fun."

A small smirk turned the corners of her mouth upwards. "Wonderful."

Suddenly, her companion whirled. "You can come out now. We know you're here."

There was a sound akin to a whimper from somewhere in the darkness.

"Come out," he growled, and a young girl stepped out from behind some discarded crates in the corner of the room.

With the night-vision rune, Clarissa thought she saw runes winding their way up and down the girl's arms. "What's your name?" she inquired.

"Mellony," the girl said softly. She appeared to be trembling, but her voice was strong. _She's trying not to show weakness,_ Clarissa thought. _All shadowhunters are taught not to know fear._

"How old are you?" Clarissa's partner asked.

"Fourteen," came the reply.

He glanced over his shoulder at Clarissa and she caught his gaze, holding it, green eyes meeting his dark irises that looked black in the darkness. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" he asked.

With another grin, Clarissa said, "Let's have some fun."

**Two days too late. I'm sorry. I've been so exhausted this past week that I totally forgot to update when I promised. I told you this chapter had some fun. Go ahead, speculate. Speculate away. Leave your ideas in a review?**


	11. XI: Inspiration

Clary was exhausted. She'd spent all day either shopping, running around Anaheim, or stressing out about the whole Simon relationship, but she hadn't been able to sleep. The inspiration that kept exploding in her mind in quick flashes of vision and light made her get up and head to the library with the sketchpad and a box of art pencils.

Which was why, now, she was curled up in a chair in the library at four in the morning, trying to draw. She was currently trying to draw Neco, who lay sprawled upside down with his cat paws in the air on a couch across from Clary.

And then she would have a burst of muse and a vision of a rune would appear before her, but before she could capture it on paper, it would fade away. This happened with most runes; they took ages to actually be created, simply because they would dance around the edges of her mind without every allowing her to grasp them. Or maybe she was just missing something.

And at other points, she would get an amazing idea for a drawing, and flip to a new page, only to discover that the inspiration had trickled away in the short moment it took her to get her pencil to a blank piece of paper.

Eventually, Clary gave up. Instead of trying to draw, she sat, staring a blank page, waiting for the ideas to pop back into her head. After twenty minutes, however, it wasn't an idea, but a voice, that Clary conjured up.

"Clary?"

The girl mentioned blink at the page a couple of times. She was tired, making up voice like that. Can't be healthy, can it?

"Clary," the voice said now, closer. This time, Clary realized it wasn't a voice in her head, but Jace.

"Oh. It's you. What are you doing here?"

"Where's the enthusiasm? I thought my dashing good looks would at least inspire _some_ excitement." She rolled her eyes, and Jace looked over her shoulder. "I couldn't sleep. And why are you staring at a blank page?"

Clary blinked at the paper a couple of times and then laughed a little. "I have a rune," said the red-head. "It's in my head, but I can't quite see it. It pops up and floats away. They sometimes do that—runes, I mean. I wonder if they tease me like that just to give me a headache."

"What about me? Do I inspire any runes? Or fantasies? Either one would do quite nicely, I'd assume." Jace's voice was undeniably close to Clary's ear and his breath tickling her neck raised goose bumps along her exposed skin, which there was quite a bit of considering she was just wearing a tank top.

Clary turned to find Jace just as close as she thought he was, if not closer. She found herself lost in his amber eyes, golden and warm and, oh, so tempting. Jace leaned forward, though there wasn't much to lean forward into, and caught her lips with his. He tasted like warmth and safety, oddly, and something Clary could only describe as Jace, contradictorily dangerous and slightly familiar and seductive all in his own way.

It was Jace who broke away first, though Clary could tell in his eyes that he was practically begging for another kiss. He watched her eyes, and Clary scowled. Jace stepped back, looking slightly awkward.

"Sit," Clary ordered.

"What?" Jace blinked at her, surprise beginning to bloom in his expression.

"Sit. I said 'sit.' Kick Necrosis off the couch and sit."

"Uh, okay." Jace, confused but compliant, pushed Neco of the seat, much to the cat's protest, and sat.

"Lay down. And look this way."

Jace did as she ordered. After a moment of silence and being glared at by Clary, he asked, "What are you doing?"

"Stay still. You inspired me. I'm going to draw you."

Jace grinned then, a dangerous smirk that made Clary have to use most of her focus on not pouncing on him and kissing him again. "I did, did I?"

"Yes, you did. Stay like that." She peered at him. "No, no, not like tha—there you go. Stay. Perfect." Clary's pencil connected with the paper and she started drawing. Within moments, her hands were covered in pencil and other sundry smudges.

"It seems I should inspire you more often."

Clary without looking up from her sketchbook, replied, "Perhaps you should."

**Late. I know. Sorry. I don't really have an excuse other than I'm lazy and I kept forgetting. Note that this story is catching up to the part I'm currently writing so updates may get very slow soon. **


	12. XII: A Certain Blonde Or Three

Valentine returned from his visit to Idris and walked into the Anaheim Institute's library to find his daughter curled up in a chair, asleep, and a blond shadowhunter he didn't recognize asleep on the couch across from her.

"Clarissa," he said sweetly, but loud enough to wake her from her slumber. "I do hope you know there's rooms for guests. I don't think it's polite to make them sleep on the couch," he quipped.

After all the tutoring and schooling she'd been through, Clary's head jerked up and she, very intelligently, replied, "Huh?"

"That's not Jace Wayland is it?" Valentine asked after examining Jace for a moment, who still lay asleep on the couch. "By the Angel, child," he scolded Clary. "He's important and you still make him sleep on the couch."

"It wasn't me!" Clary protested, glancing at Jace.

"Oh, I suppose your mother did this, then, hmm?"

"We were up late last night, talking. We both fell asleep. He could have gone back to his room at any time."

Valentine eyed his daughter for a moment before turning back to Jace. "I do—" He was cut off by a sarcastic blond, who, apparently, was only pretending to be sleeping.

"I know I'm beautiful, but please, don't stare."

Clary blinked at Jace. "You're not _that_ good-looking you know."

"I'm hurt by that statement, Clary. I though we had something real together." Jace opened his eyes and stretched, back arching like a cat. He then looked up at Valentine, long legs dangling off the armrest of the couch. He pillowed the back of his head in his hands. "And who are you, might I inquire?"

"Valentine Morgenstern. Institute head. My pleasure." He eyed Jace and his relaxed position. "I'd shake your hand, but you seem otherwise occupied."

"Good man," Jace said, nodding slightly. "Very observant."

"Father," Sebastian said, entering the room. "I didn't know you'd returned." He glanced at Clary. "And you, dear sister, look like you've been up all night."

"I have nearly," Clary huffed. "I was drawing."

"Sounds boring," Sebastian dismissed. Clary stuck her tongue out at him, which he ignored, as he turned back to Valentine. "Any news from Idris?"

"News, but not from Idris," Valentine replied.

"What happened?" Clary asked, stifling a yawn.

"It was reported to me in Idris because I was the only one with authority to deal with it. A shadowhunter was killed near here. Last night." Valentine watched his son carefully for a reaction. Sebastian gave none, waiting for more details.

"How?" Jace asked, sitting up, all business.

"Around four in the morning. In an abandoned building just north of here. There's no leads on who did it. It was a girl, about fourteen. There was no reason for her to be there, but it is known that she was killed there."

Clary swallowed hard. At the same time she was doodling on notebook paper and flirting—well, more than flirting, technically—with Jace, someone was being killed. "H-How do they know?" she asked softly.

"They found this." Valentine held up a clear plastic bag with an object within it. It was a smooth oblong item, the color of silver that glinted in the light like a mermaid's scale.

Sebastian took the bag from his father's hands and examined its contents. Clary stood and looked over his arm, since she was too short to ever look over his shoulder. Sebastian's fingers traced the shape of the object through the bag.

Clary would know that thing anywhere.

It was a stele.

Sebastian's stele.

**Short. Sorry. . . I seriously forgot to update. I'm sorry guys. See, with the school year, I could remember to update every weekend since there was a significant difference between weekdays and weekends, but now I forget, because, well, all the days are pretty much the same. ._.;**

**Butanyway. Ooooh. Sebastian's been bad. Shame on him!**

**At least he's sexy. xD**


	13. XIII: No Longer A Game

Clary couldn't believe it. "They can't do this," her outraged voice was low, but she was sure everyone in the room could hear her. No one else dared speak, so the room was filled with silence. "He's my brother."

"It's just for questioning, Clary," Simon tried to console her. She paused her pacing, which took up half of the Institute's courtyard, and glared at him.

Simon held his ground under Clary's look of anger. "'Just for questioning'?" she parroted. "You do realize that they'll use the mortal sword, right? Do you know what that does to a Shadowhunter, Si?"

Simon nodded slowly, his eyes holding hers, steady and strong and comforting, but not enough to comfort Clary when her brother was being tortured.

"It breaks them, Simon," she said, her voice as low as a whisper. She knew he could hear her. "You of all people should remember what happened to Dez."

Simon paled—a feat, considering his skin-tone was already light due to being a child of the night.

"Even if they didn't do anything wrong," Clary ranted on, knowing full well each word she said was probably like a spear through Simon's heart, but barreling on anyway because she couldn't help it. Partly because she didn't want her brother to die. And partly because she didn't know whether Sebastian was innocent or not. "Maellartach still breaks them, tears apart their mind from the inside, stealing their deepest secrets away from them. Tell me how that's right, Simon! Tell me what they did to Dez was right!"

Very softly, Simon said, "It wasn't. But they didn't hurt Dez—not really."

"Tell me, Simon, how I could want Dez's fate upon my brother. Give me one reason."

"Clary, he'll be okay." Jace's voice interrupted the argument. His slow, melodic drawl was enough to calm Clary for a second, but within a heartbeat she'd whirled on him, too. "He's not a weak Nephilim."

"Neither was Dez!" Clary's voice rose.

"I'm almost afraid to ask, but who was this 'Dez'?" Magnus inquired from where he was leaning against the Institute walls.

"Dez was—" Simon began, but Clary broke in.

"—None of your business," she said savagely, and stalked out of the courtyard gates and into the city of Anaheim.

"I knew I shouldn't have asked," observed Magnus.

Simon sighed and started after her.

Isabelle stopped him. "Don't. She's already mad at you."

"I'll go," Jace volunteered. Simon glared at him while Izzy raised an eyebrow at Jace's offer. He shrugged. "Be back whenever." He strolled after Clary with his hands in his jean pockets.

Izzy glanced at Simon. "You seem like you could use a distraction." He just looked at her. "Come on," Isabelle continued and, tugging on Simon's arm, she pulled him towards the Institute gates. "Let's go get a coffee or something."

Chamomile, who had just walked out of the Institute doors in time to hear "Let's go get a coffee or something," practically shouted, "Negative point-seventy-five for Izzy!"

"Not now Cammy!" Isabelle growled over her shoulder.

"You can't change the rules whenever you want to!" the blond warlock protested indignantly.

"Definitely not now!"

It was them Chamomile realized the mood left in Isabelle's wake. She blinked. "Wait. What did I miss?"

**Okie-dokie. I felt bad for not updating for ages. So, here you go. Also, this chapter goes out to Wisdomsdaughter2 who left a nice review. You literally made me want to update. Just for you. So, see what happens when you review? I update faster.**

**And a shout-out to all of my followers. Thanks for reading you guys. And thanks for wanting to stick with this story.**


	14. XIV: The Happiest Place on Earth

"You know," observed Jace, "Most people—Shadowhunters, really—tend to go hurt a few things when they're mad."

"What do you want, Jace?" Clary groaned, sounding miserable now that her steam had blown off some.

He ignored her. "But not you, no. Of all places or things to do when you need to vent, you go to Disneyland." His golden eyes flicked around, taking in the entrance to Disney's theme parks. Clary was standing in the clearing that branched off to the different parks, the big place where you didn't need a ticket to get into since she'd left her wallet at the Institute. Jace shrugged. "But it's the happiest place on earth, I suppose."

Clary just glared at him.

"Okay, okay. But we could go in, you know."

"What?" Clary asked, more out of surprise than anything else. She opened her mouth to say something indignant like _My brother could be dying and you want me to go play in Disneyland? _But Jace continued before she could speak.

"It could help get your mind off things. Seems like you need it. My treat."

Even as Clary's brain said no, her heart said that a day without worries with Jace would be exactly what she needed. Her angry retort died on the tip of her tongue when she nodded, almost without any volition on her part. Jace grinned, and he grabbed her hand, tugging her towards the large stand where tickets were sold.

After a few moments in line, he paid for two one-day passes and handed one to Clary. "Where to?" he asked as she examined the slip of paper he'd given her. Her questioning eyes flicked up to meet his and Jace elaborated. "The official Disneyland, or California Adventure?"

Clary bit her lip and glanced in the direction of the second park Jace had mentioned. "Grizzly River Rafters?" she asked tentatively. "And Soaring Over California?"

"As you wish, M'lady," Jace said and offered his elbow. The red-head laughed and took his offered arm as they made their way to the park's real entrance. "But if we get soaked, then freeze in Soaring Over California, and die of frostbite, I'm blaming you."

"Perhaps they'd enjoy that. They could freeze you completely and have your corpse play the part of Prince Charming in Sleeping Beauty's castle."

"With my handsomeness preserved for all to see? I don't think so. There may be enough me to go around for this lifetime, but not for eternity."

"Maybe you just need a princess you wake you, then. That's definitely shorter than eternity."

Jace shot her a look. "Maybe I do," he said, voice low. "I think I may happen to be looking at one." The corners of his lips twitched up in a smirk and he leaned towards her. "Would you like to be my princess and save me from my deep slumber?"

They'd stopped walking a few yards from the entrance. Clary's green eyes met his daringly. "Of course," she whispered. Even with Jace leaning down, she still had to rise to the tips of her toes to connect their lips. They kissed gently until the sound someone clearing their throat came from somewhere behind Jace, breaking them apart, Clary blushing profusely as she stepped away.

"Excuse me," the woman who'd coughed said. "I'd rather my children not be scarred for life, thank you." With that, she turned with her nose in the air and stalked towards the entrance, two small kids practically clinging to her legs.

Jace chuckled and glanced at Clary. "What is the world coming to?" he mumbled, and Clary giggled. "I mean," he continued, "Interrupting a kiss like that? Anyone could tell that was a magical moment. Aren't they supposed to bet taking pictures of those? How rude."

"Shush, you," Clary scolded. Jace just grinned. He took her hand and pulled her gently towards the entrance. The attendant, who seemed to be trying not to glare at them, took their tickets and stamped their hands in case they wished to return to the park after leaving. When they got into the park, Clary stopped walking.

"Something wrong?" Jace asked, turning to look at her.

Clary shook her head. "Nothing's wrong. Just . . ." She trailed off, then said, "Thank you, Jace." _Thank you for trying to help me forget. For coming to California at all. If you weren't here, I don't know what I'd have screwed up in my life by now. Thank you for the kiss, even though I know they mean next to nothing to you._ So many ways existed to continue to the sentence, but instead Clary added, "Now let's go do something fun."

"Like get tipped over in a raft on GRR?"

"You wouldn't!" Clary exclaimed.

"Try me."

"No!"

And there was the dangerous grin again, tempting and seductive enough that it hooked Clary in and made her forget about everything and everyone, including Sebastian, and the nagging feeling that he could have done it. That he could have killed Mellony, the poor little Shadowhunter girl who was likely so innocent that she hadn't even killed her first demon yet.

Then again, why should Clary have been surprised? It happened before.

**Alright so, after this chapter, there's going to be another arc following the adventures of Clary, Sebastian, and Dez as children, up until a year or two before Jace came. Just warning. They'll be a lot of flashbacks, and it's going to last approx. 4 chapters? Iunno. I'm still working on it.**


	15. XV: Mistake

Dez was just a kid, really. They all were, but being the eldest, he was the leader of the pack and, therefore, the one to get them all into trouble. But then there was the one day that trouble got into Dez.

Clary was thirteen, with Sebastian and Desmond a year older, and being the ignorant children they were, believed themselves to be old enough to organize their own patrol without supervision.

They didn't know what they were getting themselves into.

_ "Clary—psst—Clary!"_

_ The young red-headed Shadowhunter turns to see one of her best friends, Desmond, motioning at her from one the doorway of one of the empty rooms in the Institute. Sebastian and Andrea were already there, Andrea inspecting her knife for blemishes and Sebastian fiddling with a seraph blade. "What's going on?" Clary asks, taking in their determined expressions and buffed gear._

_ "We're going hunting," Dez says proudly._

_ "Oh!" Clary responds. "Who with? I hope it's Katerina. . ."_

_ "On our own," Dez adds._

_ Clary visible pales. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"_

_ "It's nothing big," Sebastian says, as if hunting is as dangerous as peeling an orange. Considering his past with oranges, that may be true. "Just a loner. He's been wandering around feeding on others' scraps and no one has time to finish him. He's just good at hiding and nothing else."_

_ "Fine," the red-head says grudgingly after pointed stares from both her best Shadowhunter friend and brother. Andrea seems to be the only one not pressing her, but Clary can tell by the glint in her eyes that the other girl is especially excited about this._

_ Sebastian smirks. "Here," he says, and tosses Clary a seraph blade and a sheathed dagger, along with its belt. Clary, in turn, straps the dagger to her leg and attaches the seraph blade to her belt. _

_ "Anything else?" Clary asks, in response to which Sebastian throws her jacket at her. Clary puts it on, the snug fit of her worn Shadowhunting jacket giving her some comfort and courage._

_ Dez grins at her. "Ready?"_

_ Clary nods. "Ready."_

_ "Let's do this," Andrea says, a dangerous smile on her face._

_ Clary's not sure how they managed to do it, but the four of them manage to get out of the Institute without anyone noticing. Considering that most of the older Shadowhunters are out hunting the recent influx of demons, it's actually not that surprising, but Clary doesn't say anything because she doesn't want to wound Dez's pride._

_ Once outside, Sebastian's in the lead, but only because he's the one who got the information on the demon they're tracking. Desmond is right behind him, with Andrea next and Clary taking up the rear. They follow Clary's brother away from the Institute and into the city's alleyways. They wander around and have to double-back a couple of times, but eventually they find what they're looking for._

_ "Wait," Sebastian suddenly says, lifting a hand. Dez, Andrea, and Clary all freeze immediately._

_ Andrea points at a figure slithering in the darkness at the end of the alleyway. "That it?"_

_ "Think so, yeah," Dez says._

_ "There's a dead end that way. A sort of clearing thing," Sebastian says. "But there's an alley parallel to this one that it could escape through."_

_ "Right. Sebastian, Andrea," orders Desmond, "You flush it down through this alley. Clary and I will take the other. We'll meet up and trap it in the dead-end."_

_ "Got it," Sebastian says and motions for Andrea to follow. She nods and complies, slinking after him._

_ "Come on, Clary." Dez waves his hand for her to follow as he turns and runs in the opposite direction Sebastian and Andrea are heading. Clary follows at a slower pace. "Hurry!"_

_ Clary quickens her pace until she's running beside Dez. They rush out of the alleyway and turn to move along the main street, running until they skid to a stop at the entrance of the other alley. __Breathing hard, the two of them share a look, then Desmond charges ahead. Clary follows, drawing her seraph blade as she's running but not naming it._

_ Dez pulls out one of his own seraph blades and names it, the glow emitted from the weapon pushing back the shadows of the alley. He charges into the clearing and the mass of blackness and poison that is the demon they're stalking backs against the wall, whimpering. Sebastian charges from the other alleyway, Clary now sees as she comes to the end passage. Andrea follows right behind him with twin daggers, one in each hand, glistening in the weak sunlight that manages to find its way into the slums of the city._

_ Clary hangs back. The demon, now realizing its attackers are not as experienced as older Shadowhunters, starts to fight back. It's shaped like a spider, with eight legs and two large pinchers, mandible dripping with venom. For the life of her, Clary can't remember the name of the demon, but she knows she's seen it before in one of her demonology textbooks._

_ It's feet, while not extremely flexible, are tipped with talons, razor sharp and likely poisonous, but Sebastian and Dez know what they're doing when they dodge around the creature, hacking at it's legs with blazing blades. Three out of eight legs are gone before the demon's jaws catch Dez in the shoulder. He's flung to the side. This snaps Clary into action._

_ The red-head rushes to Dez's side and whips out her stele, dropping her seraph blade on the ground in the process. She starts to draw and _iratze_ on Desmond, but he waves her off and tries to get back into the action. After falling back onto the ground with a groan, he allows Clary to heal him. Seconds after the rune takes effect, he grabs his weapon and rushes back into the fray. _

_ Clary herself starts to fight now. She grabs her dropped angel blade and begins to attack the demon, but she's a bit late and Sebastian manages to land the killing blow just as Clary hacks off one of its few remaining legs._

_ They're all hurt except for Clary. Sebastian has a nasty cut on his arm and what looks to be a mean bruise on his cheek. Andrea's covered in scratches where the demon's clawed legs managed to get her. Dez seems to have gotten the worst of it, even after the _iratze_, his shoulder is really beat up and he's limping. Despite this, he's grinning like the Cheshire cat._

_ "Hell, yeah," Dez says and high-fives Sebastian with his good arm. Then lets out a string of curses as he shifts his shoulder in a way that causes pain. _

_ Andrea laughs. "Come on, fearless leader," she teases. "Let's get back to the Institute."_

It was a mistake. All of it. The older Shadohunters weren't lying about the demon. For all they knew, it was just a scavenger, but it wasn't just that in reality. The demon wasn't bothering them, so they didn't bother it. But it was so much more dangerous than they thought.

**This is late. I know. Again, summer throws me off, even though I have more time to write, I tend to forget to update. Plus, I was gone for a week and didn't have access to computers or even phones, really. So, yeah. Again, sorry about the wait. I'll try to remember to update the next chapter soon. Thanks for reading so far, and I really am sorry about my negligence. qwq**


	16. XVI: Moo

The response to the four Shadowhunter kids' return was one of mixed emotions. There was plenty of _Don't you ever do that again,_ and _You're getting double chores for the next three weeks,_ but there was also the occasional wink from their trainers or a whispered, _Good job, Kid,_ as they passed an elder resident in the hallway. They were all basking in the glory of it. Even Clary accepted a few compliments with humble thank-yous.

And after the excitement of it all, everything died down. Life went back to normal. The hunt they'd gone on became but a memory. Everything was quiet. They grew up. It was five years later that Clary and Sebastian started to notice something was off about Dez. He was different. Colder. Less social. Sebastian took it personally that Dez wouldn't talk to him anymore, and began leaving the Institute at night, going to Downworlder parties and clubs.

Maybe it was a method of getting attention from Dez—not that he even noticed, being the ghost of the person he was—or maybe it was just a form of grieving for his best friend. Either way, it was a bad idea, and Sebastian knew that. Yet, he did it anyway. It was on one of those nights that things went crazy.

_It's raining outside, clouds obscuring whatever light the moon would've cast over the landscape. Clary walks out of the Institute gates, blinking water droplets from her eyes, and resists the urge to just go back inside to the warmth and comfort of home. Instead, though, she starts off towards Dumort. _

_ On her way, Simon calls. She tells him what's up—that Sebastian's gotten into another fight with Valentine and then stormed off to do the exact thing that spawned the fight in the first place and that she's going off to look for him. When he says he'll meet her at the Dumort and she protests, he hangs up before she can even get her point across that he's only a _mundane_ and is going to get himself killed._

_ Sure enough, when Clary is just around the block from the Hotel, Simon appears at her shoulder. He doesn't bother saying anything; he just stuffs his hands into his jacket pockets and walks beside her, ever the faithful best friend. As she watches him out of the corner of her eye, Clary remembers that she's only known Simon for a few years. She met him while staying with her mom, who's more integrated with the human world than most Shadowhunters and thus actually knows people. Somehow, Simon has sneaked into Clary's life—even the supernatural portion of it—and that's why he's by her side while she's searching for her brother in a hotel full of vampires._

_ This idea makes Clary seriously question Simon's sanity._

_ They come to a stop outside the Dumort._

_ "Now what?" Simon asks, inspecting the boarded-up front door. "Are there any back entrances?"_

_ "They'll have those boarded, too," Clary says. Then, whether it was being in a hurry or being stupid as her backing for her actions, Clary yells, "Raphael! I request an audience. So either come out now, or I'll find a way in myself!"_

_ Silence. And then the softest fluttering sound behind Clary. She whirls to see the temporary vampire head._

_ "What do you want, Nephilim?" Raphael hisses._

_ "I want to know where my brother is," Clary says sharply._

_ "Do I look like the Nephilim's keeper? I do not know his whereabouts," Raphael responds. "Now leave."_

_ "But you know where your vampires go when they leave the Dumort. Are there any parties tonight? Specifically Downworlder parties?"_

_ "And what does it mean to you if there is one tonight?" Raphael purrs._

_ Clary growls and before even the vampire can move, she's behind him and has a knife at his throat. "I wonder how many times I can cut you before you loose enough blood that you can't heal? Would you like to find out?"_

_ "You wouldn't," Raphael says. The blade kisses the skin of his neck._

_ And then there's another vampire, holding Simon in a choke hold. Clary lowers the blade, but doesn't release her hold on Raphael. "Let him go," the other vampire says, "Or the mundane gets it."_

_ "All I want to know," Clary says slowly, "Is if there's any parties that your kind went to tonight. Tell me that and I'm out of your hair."_

_ The other vampire seems more willing to speak. "Yeah. One. Over at Chase's. You know where—"_

_ Apparently the choke hold is to much for Simon. He dips his head down and bites the vampire on the arm, hard. The vampire, in turn, shrieks and lets go. Simon, spitting out blood, scampers behind Clary, putting some space between him and his attacker, who resorts to glaring at him._

_ Clary releases Raphael. She nods at the other vampire. "Thanks. We'll be going." She turns on her heel and leaves Raphael to hound his underling for being nice to Nephilim._

_-later-_

_"You know where it is?" Chase asks._

_ "Yeah, I know," Clary says. "Who'd he leave with?"_

_ "Not sure. Some guy. I don't know the name of everyone who comes to my parties. Get going. Good luck finding your brother," Chase says, and disappears back into the mob of bodies packed into the living room of his mansion. _

_ "Thanks," Clary mutters after him. She moves toward the exit, picking Simon up off a random couch on her way. _

_ "Anything?" he asks._

_ "He's nearby. Heading towards an RV park."_

_ It is a short, silent walk to where Sebastian was headed, but they never quite get there. A scream, soon followed by more shouts, from nearby. After one glance at each other, Clary and Simon take off running._

_ They arrive at a high school across the street from the RV park. Clary can't find Sebastian. The students that are there for whatever reason are all screaming and running around in a panic, making locating one Shadowhunter a bit harder than normal. The red-head turns to Simon. "You see what you can do about calming everyone down."_

_ "On it," Simon says, and moves off._

_ Clary applies a quick glamour to hide her runes, then dives into a throng of students. She grabs the nearest one by the shoulders. "What's going on?"_

_ The student turns his panicked eyes to her. "I-I'm not sure. There were intruders in the school—the alarms went off and everything. Th-then I saw this thing and a girl. At first I thought they were just making out, but then the thing . . . H-he looked up and had fangs, and they were all bloody."_

_ Clary nods._

_ The student continues. "But vampires don't exist, right?"_

_ Clary shakes her head. "They don't," she says, and leaves the student to find comfort elsewhere, as much as her heart goes out to him, because she has a job to do._

_ By now the school's been evacuated. Clary can hear police sirens in the distance and she knows she doesn't have much time. She rushes in, ignoring the shout of a student who saw her go. Simon meets her right inside the door._

_ "What going on?" Clary asks, not slowing her pace as she pelts down the hallway, watching for anything that moves._

_ "Vampires, from the looks of it," Simon says._

_ "That's what I heard, too," Clary responds. Then orders, "You check the other hallway. Don't get caught. Don't get hurt." _

_ Simon grins. "But if I do, you'll come save me." Before Clary can say anything like _"That won't always happen"_ to dampen his mood, he turns and runs the opposite direction._

_ The Shadowhunter turns the corner and skids to a stop. Before her is Sebastian, kneeling on the ground. A body is slumped against the wall. Around his feet is a pool of blood. He's covered in it. Clary approaches him slowly. "Sebastian," she says softly._

_ He doesn't turn. Instead, he lowers his head. "Clary."_

_ "What happened?"_

_ "I killed her."_

_ Clary blinks. "What?"_

_ "You heard me," Sebastian says, and now he does look at her. "Clary you've got to help me. I-I don't know what happened." Clary knows something is up. She sees the fear in Sebastian's eyes and hears the quaver in his voice._

_ "Why?" Clary asks softly. _

_ "I don't know," Sebastian whispers. "I guess, just everything got to me at once. . . And the vamps wanted to go get a snack over here, and I just kind of went along with it, you know? To let it all out."_

_ "I. . ." Clary starts. And then she says, with conviction, "I won't say anything. Make it look like one of the vampires got her. We'll just act like that was what happened. If anyone asks, it wasn't you."_

_ "And the Mortal Sword?"_

_ "You bend your words so that you're innocent. You didn't do it. You got it? If anything, you plead insanity."_

_ As Sebastian sets to work on tampering with the body and wiping off some of the blood on himself, Clary hears a scream from across the school. She whirls in that direction. Simon._

_ She takes off running, feet pounding against the tile floor, hoping that Simon's okay because if he isn't, she'll never forgive herself. The short run feels like miles, and Clary ends up simply hoping that she's not too late. That she can save him._

_ "What just happened?" Clary hears a voice. Simon's voice. But she doesn't slow her pace. She runs until the scene before her unfolds completely. Simon is leaning against a locker. There's a vampire's corpse laying on the ground nearby. What surprises Clary most, though, is that Desmond is standing before her, grinning, with a bloody seraph blade in hand._

_ "Dez?" Clary asks._

_ "Well," Dez says, "That was fun." Turning to Simon, he adds, "Do try to avoid getting bit by vampires in the future."_

**Okay. Be glad I was being nice. I didn't get any reviews and I am very sad about that. BUT I gave you a double chapter anyway. This was originally going to be uploaded in two parts. But you get all of it. So lucky you, whoever you are. Anyway. Seriously. Reviews make me happy. And they make me want to write. And considering that I don't have another full chapter written, you're going to either wait a very long time, or review and make me happy and make me write. Soyeah. It's all on you.**

**Anyway. Hope you enjoyed. Thanks for reading.**


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